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Backpacking: Big Pine Creek to Third Lake

It’s been awhile since I’ve been backpacking and I must admit – I missed my big Osprey backpacking pack. I haven’t been since I summit Mt Whitney last August, so last week, I decided I was going back to the Eastern Sierras to backpack just for one night [6.7.16 – 6.8.16]… and talked my adventure buddy into going with me. Big Pine Lakes has been on my list for months now, but when I first heard about it, it was late Fall and not the right season. Now… was the perfect time.

First Lake

Second Lake

Third Lake

Sunset in Eastern Sierras… reminds me of Whitney

I woke up to this

Adventure buddy!

PERMIT: You can totally day hike this trail, but we chose to overnight it just because I missed backpacking. You do not need a permit to day hike Big Pines but you will need the Inyo National Forest Wilderness Permit to stay overnight (you can apply for this at www.recreation.gov ). Make sure you confirm your permit before 10 am the day of otherwise they will release your permit; we were not aware of this so right after I got my “no show” email, I had to call them to let them know we were on the way to pick up our permit. We picked up our permit at the Eastern Sierra InterAgency Visitor Center (same place you pick up the Mt Whitney permit, closest pick up location if you are coming from Los Angeles area).

HIKE OVERVIEW: We hiked part of the Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail. This trail goes to 7 lakes (8 if you include Black Lake) but our goal was only to hike to and camp at Third Lake. There is another trail that leads you through Sam Mack Meadow and to Temple Crag. **scroll to very bottom for hike stats summary**

THE JOURNEY BEGINS: We headed out from San Gabriel Valley (LA area) at 7:20 am last Tuesday and arrived to pick up our permit shortly after 11 am. It was busy in the center so we didn’t get back on the road until maybe 11:40 am. We got to the parking lot and started hiking around 1 pm. You do not need a parking permit but if you have the overnight permit, they will ask for your car info. There is a separate parking lot for day hikers and overnight hikers (ours is half mile before the day users trail head). There is also bear lockers at the trail head for you to leave anything scented or food you do not want to bring – label your items with your name and exit date. You need a BEAR CANISTER if you plan to stay overnight – good thing I invested in my own last year. 🙂 &&& bring BUG SPRAY! There are sooooooo many mosquitoes throughout the trail and I got lit up!

(DETAILED) HIKE DESCRIPTION: There is a trail that starts from the overnight hiker’s parking lot which is supposed to be the Big Pine Creek trail head, but we weren’t entirely sure so we walked along the road to the end and began where the day users start. We started here at 1:21 pm.

This trail is so beautiful because you are walking along the creek or a falls for most of the trail – you always hear the water in the surrounding area! So we start off walking along the Big Pine Creek. Keep an eye out for the “trail” signs in the beginning – I think we saw two, but you can’t get lost. 10 minutes in, we came across the first waterfall (keep in mind, I’m a decent-paced hiker but did this with a backpacking pack, so day hikers may get there faster). If you’re from LA, you know that we don’t have “real” waterfalls… now THIS was a real waterfall! It flows strong! Just a minute later (0.37 miles from day user parking lot), you will soon come across the fork and sign for SF Big Pine / NF Big Pine: hang right to take the NF (North Fork) trail leading to the beautiful green lakes.

At 1:47pm, we came to an opening with no signs specifying right, left, or straight. I went with a hunch and steered right – follow me! Straight in front was another bridge and just on the other side was the NF Big Pine trail sign. I believe this is where the backpackers’ trail connects with the day users, but keep left to stay on trail.

For the next mile, you are not walking next to the creek. The trail has very limited shade and this was definitely the hottest and most boring part of the hike. You can see the second waterfall at a distance, but it’s a lot farther than you think. The trail starts to elevate a lot more here as well, probably the most during the entire hike to the start of the lakes.

At 2:15pm, the trail steers a hard right and climbs even higher – the elevation gain really was not too bad, but with the heat of the sun and the weight of my pack… the incline really slowed me down to say the least. There were many pink/ lavender and yellow flowers that bloomed and just lit up the trail – it was actually one of my favorite parts of the hike. Keep a lookout for another trail that goes left (u-turns) along this part of the trail. It’s soon after you pass this unique tree, but you will want to make sure you take that route instead of continuing straight to who knows where.

2:20 pm, 1. 82 miles, you will see another NF Big Pine trail sign to ensure you took the right path.

Just over 2 miles from the start, you will approach the second waterfall which we came to at 2:35pm, and just around the corner from that is the John Muir Wilderness / Inyo National Forest trail sign. NOTE: at this time of year, there were a LOTTT of ladybugs!! I mean I walked for about four mins (back along the creek) with swarms of ladybugs flying all over me, all up in my face, and attaching onto any part of me they could. and yes, I time out and track every detail of my hike just so I can share it with you. Anyways, I’m pretty sure the ladybugs are harmless and once you pass them, they don’t go chasing you. It was just surprising and a bit annoying.

The trail becomes “flat” again and at about 2.64 miles (2:50 pm), there is a big rock that offered some much needed shade for a break, while my friend backtracked his steps to locate something he dropped. We stayed about 10-15 minutes before carrying on and it felt really nice to take my backpack off! You soon enter back to the shades of the beautiful, tall green trees, and at 3:13 pm, you pass the Big Pine Creek Wilderness Ranger Camp. This is just over the 3 miles mark. With just a little incline here and there, you will continue to trek along the creek and mostly in shade in the middle of the afternoon.

first look at Temple Crag

At the 4 mile mark (2 hrs), you will get your first glimpse of Temple Crag in the distance! At 4.45 miles, 17 mins later, you will cross a small stream and a larger rock-skipping water area within ten mins. If this part confused you, just know you’ll encounter water with your steps within ten mins of your first glance of Temple Crag.

At 4.89 miles (2:38 hr), we finally saw the sign for: Lakes 1-7 / Black Lake. Continue straight to the pretty green water! 8 mins later, and 5.16 miles from the parking lot… hello First Lake! We arrived at 4:19 pm and at this time of day, the water was gleaming green (it was a lot prettier when we passed through the next morning). We stopped for a quick photo before wanting to move on our way to the other lakes because we heard they were prettier.

First Lake

5.35 miles and less than 10 minutes from First Lake – hello Second Lake! This one took my breath away. The water was green and beautiful and the view of Temple Crag straight on was so dramatic and just makes you go woah… 😀 We saw some other backpackers set up camp around here, but I’ve always wanted to hike to Third Lake so fifteen minutes later, we trekked on to find our last stop.

Third Lake is a bit farther apart than first and second lake. We arrived here at 5 pm/ 6.22 miles/ 3.5 hrs from the start. At this time of day, there was plenty of day light that just brought out the colors of the lake. There is a small waterfall on the opposite side of the lake which is actually feeding the lake water with the melting Palisade Glacier; that water source is also the explanation of the turquoise/ green water. You get a different angle of Temple Crag from here but it’s still awe-mazing!

trail from 2nd to 3rd lake

snow on the trail

my new fitbit surge ^.^

waiting for sunset

We set up camp near the lake, ate dinner, and waited for the sun to go down. The sun didn’t set until after 8 pm and at 9 pm… there was still light outside! I only remember this because my friend was waiting for darkness in the sky so he could get some shots of the stars. Since we weren’t moving around much anymore, we were easy targets for the mosquitoes so I ended up hiding out in the tent most of the evening. 🙁 If third lake is all you want to hike to, you can stop reading here; just go back the same way you came in.

The next morning, we slept in because I wanted to wait for the sun to rise a bit higher to shine on the lake before adventuring on. At 6am… the lake was not very impressive.

We trekked a bit further at 9:40 am and I think we got to part of the Sam Mack Meadow, but it was there was too much snow to make it all the way to Temple Crag… which just means I will have to come back another time. There were even more mosquitoes here than along the rest of the trail; I’m assuming because of the meadow. We hiked until about 10:30 am before turning around, back to camp at 11:10 am (1.5 miles total), then onwards and off the mountain by 1:30 pm. Four hours later, I was back in San Gabriel Valley.

second lake on the way back

first lake on the way back

By the way, I counted 30+ bug bites when I got home!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment below. 🙂

For more info on the North Fork Trail description, check out the USDA site: https://fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5195705.pdf

♦ Trail: Big Pine Creek North North Fork Trail from Third Lake to 0.75 miles farther than all the way back
♦ Distance: 8.03 miles to Third Lake (14.54 miles total trip including morning exploration)♦ Time: 3 hrs 29 mins (including breaks)
♦ Elevation Gain: 519 ft
♦ Difficulty Level: moderate

Hi B! I think the trail conditions would really depend on the amount of rain and snowfall we get for the season, but when I went, the trail got completely snowed out starting the meadow and I’d say the Eastern Sierra is generally still heavy with snow in early June. I’d recommend you check with the permit issuing station before your trip for latest conditions. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help but let me know if you have any other questions! I’ve been back several times since this trip.